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A day at the ball field

Yesterday was a big day for Josh as he got to represent the United States Coast Guard and carry the flag onto the field at the MLB All Star game at Citi Field. He was up and at his day by 6 am and headed to the field by 6:45. We didn’t hear from him again until around 9 am when he sent a picture of the ginormous flag on the field and let us know where to look for him on tv before the game. He had “practice” from 8am until noon and then sent a text letting me know that he was sitting in a bar for the next few hours. I thought that sounded like a nice afternoon until he also mentioned that beers were $11 a piece! Yikes!

In the meantime, the kids and I had made plans with some old friends for the day. We were meeting up at Liberty Science Center in Jersey City to let them play and explore. Unfortunately, Rubes just wasn’t feeling the stroller so I ended up carrying her most of the time (hence the lack of quality pictures) but the boys had a blast visiting with buddies and playing in the museum for over two hours.

We came home and ordered a pizza and relaxed a little while we waited for it. Josh had texted me earlier while we were still at the science center to let me know that he was shutting off his phone so it wouldn’t die, so I hadn’t heard from him in a few hours. After the kids and I ate dinner, I got miss Ruby in bed and started cleaning up when I heard an incoming text. It was Josh with just one word,

“Amazing”

This text just reinforced my excitement for him. As long as I’ve known Josh he has been a huge baseball fan. Actually, at the beginning of our relationship he ditched me one night when we had plans, to go to a Pirates game instead. I followed him throughout high school watching him pitch and play shortstop for our school team as well as summer league. He introduced me to Field of Dreams and took me to my first professional baseball game. He made me a Pirates fan and actually tried to talk me into naming Parker “Buc”. Together we’ve visited baseball stadiums in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Boston, New York, San Francisco, Houston, Atlanta, and Milwaukee, with all three of our kids attending their first pro game before their first birthday. Josh really loves baseball so I was so happy that he got the chance to have this experience.

He sent me a picture he took with Bryce Harper and told me he’d also met Erin Andrews. One of the coaches threw him a ball from batting practice, he got a picture with Paul Goldschmidt and checked out his bat and then he walked right next to Joe Torre, Chris Berman, and Bob Costas. At one point, as Josh stood in front of the first base dugout, Jason Grilli walked by so he yelled out to him “Thanks for a winning season! I’ve waited my whole life for this.” (Jason Grilli is a first year Pirate who has been a stud closing pitcher this year) to which Grilli replied, “No, thank you! I’m glad we can finally bring it you.” And then after a 12 hour day at the ballpark, it was time to do what he came to do and he carried the flag out onto the field with dozens of other servicemen and women. Back home, Parker and I were bummed when we didn’t get to see Josh on tv, but his picture did make The Washinton Post! Though this was not his first All Star game (he was lucky enough to go when it was played at PNC Park) I have a feeling this was his most memorable